CENTRE JAPONAIS DES COLLECTIVITÉS LOCALES
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The CLAIR, abbreviation of the English Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, opened in Paris in October 1990 a permanent representation office for all local Japanese authorities : the Japanese Centre for Local Communities, also known as CLAIR Paris. CLAIR conducts studies of local administration and finance systems in France as well as in other European countries, and supports Japanese research programmes in France. Also, in the interest of better information and understanding, the CLAIR publishes a quarterly leaflet on Japanese local authorities and distributed free of charge to Japanese ministries, regions, departments and institutions. Regularly, seminars and study trips are organised both for French officials in local communities and for the Japanese. Twinning programs, which are highly symbolic of international friendship, are also partly managed by the CLAIR. Today, 47 Japanese local communities are linked by twinning or friendship pacts to French local communities. Finally the most intensive programme of contacts and friendships between the two countries is the JET (abbreviation of the English Japan Exchange and Teaching), which proposes to young foreigners stays in Japan as coordinators for international exchanges in local communities, or as language assistants in colleges and high schools. This programme gives elected candidates the opportunity for a rich and generous exchange of knowledge and culture, such as no tourist travel can ever cause.
